According to BTU union, Lloyds Banking Group is planning to get rid of 3.1 million passbook savings accounts in a bid to reduce the number of counter transactions.

A passbook savings account is a traditional savings account that comes with a physical notebook to keep track of transactions.

The union said that Lloyds will be writing to customers from 30 October 2023 telling them that their passbook accounts will be phased out and that customers will be given two months’ notice of the change.

About 2.6 million of the passbook accounts affected are held by Halifax customers and include Monthly Saver, Liquid Gold, Saver Reward, Extra Income Saver, Bonus Gold, 60 Day Gold, Passbook Saver, Save4it and Variable ISA Saver.

These passbook accounts will be replaced by the Instant Saver, Instant ISA Saver and the Kids’ Saver accounts all of which offer mobile banking and ATM cards.

The Lloyds and Bank of Scotland saving passbook accounts that are being withdrawn are Instant Gold, Flexible Savings, Service Account, Saver Reward, Liquid Gold, Bonus Gold, 60 Day Gold, Extra Income Save and Monthly Saver.

These accounts will be replaced with Flexible Savings Account, Service Account, Instant Access Savings Account, ISA Save and Children’s Saver.

BTU said Lloyds will try to justify its actions to staff and customers on the grounds of improving customer service. But the union described this as “a lie”, adding that “it’s about stopping pesky customers from going into branches to pay money into or withdraw money from their passbook accounts. And when the customer footfall drops, which it will, Lloyds will use that as an excuse to close hundreds more branches across the network in 2024.”

The union accused Lloyds of “getting rid of customer transactions by forcing customers down the digital/self-serve channels” and described it as “sickening” that branch staff will be given the job of persuading passbook holders the move is a good thing, but that many staff will lose their jobs.

‘A blow to digitally-excluded customers’

James Daley of campaign group Fairer Finance described the scrapping of Lloyds’ passbook savings as “a massive blow for millions of customers who are digitally excluded and don’t do their banking online”.

Lloyds Banking Group has shut 1,300 branches since 2015. Some 79 branches have closed this year, with another 76 due to close by Christmas.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “Passbooks haven’t been available to new customers since 2015 and we have alternative ways for them to easily manage and keep track of their account. Since July, we have been speaking to customers in some of our branches about the change, helping us to understand any personalised support that they, or others, may need.

“We’ll soon be writing to all passbook customers to let them know what happens next and the date their account will change. Customers can continue to manage their account at the branch counter, and request a Cashpoint card, alongside the option to receive regular free paper statements.”